Telephony system with a background recapilation feature

ABSTRACT

A telephony system comprising means to establish an initial telephone call ( 1 ) between at least two initial telephone terminals ( 2, 3 ) characterized in that it further comprises:
         a call recording server ( 5 ) designed to record said initial telephone call ( 1 ),   a speech to text engine ( 6 ) able to make a text transcription ( 9 ) of said initial telephone call ( 1 ),   a providing mean ( 7 ) able to provide said text transcription ( 9 ) to a third telephone terminal ( 4 ).

The technical domain is the domain of telephony systems. A telephonysystem, as is known in the art, is a server system allowing severaltelephone terminals to address and interconnect each other, through theestablishment of a telephone call, so as to allow their respective usersto be able to exchange at least speech.

Such a telephone call so interconnects at least two initial telephoneterminals and their users can engage in a speech conversation. Mostoften a telephone call links two initial telephone terminals, but it canalso links three or more initial telephone terminals in what may then benamed a conference call.

The problem addressed here is encountered when a third telephoneterminal has to join an initial telephone call after its establishment.In that case a third user using said third telephone terminal is notaware of the subjects previously discussed between the initial users andis thus not fully operative to participate to said telephone call, untilhe receives a recapitulation of the content of the initial telephonecall from the beginning to the joining time.

Until now such a recapitulation is typically done e.g. by speech, by atleast one of the initial user typically orally recapitulating and/orsummarizing the initial telephone call to the newcomer/said third user.However said process is time consuming, depending on the time elapsedsince the beginning of the initial telephone call, and on the subjectspreviously discussed between the initial users. During thisrecapitulation time some of the initial users may be temporarilydisconnected. In any case, the initial conversation is halted. That maybe very counterproductive.

Most of all, such a recapitulation process is done by a user, and canthus hardly be faithful, since it is prone to interpretation,adaptation, and/or willing or not forgetting and/or omission.

It is thus of interest to provide a telephony system able to help athird person joining a telephone call after its beginning by allowingsaid third person to be aware of the subject matters previouslydiscussed, before its joining.

The present invention addresses and solves this problem.

The object of the invention is a telephony system comprising means toestablish an initial telephone call between at least two initialtelephone terminals, further comprising: a call recording serverdesigned to record said initial telephone call, a speech to text engineable to make a text transcription of said initial telephone call, aproviding mean able to provide said text transcription to a thirdtelephone terminal.

According to another feature, said call recording server is designed toautomatically start recording said initial telephone call from thebeginning of said initial telephone call.

According to another feature, said call recording server is designed torecord said initial telephone call in speech form.

According to another feature, said call recording server is designed torecord said initial telephone call in text transcription form.

According to another feature, said call recording server is designed todeliver back a recorded telephone call on demand.

According to another feature, said speech to text engine is designed tomake a text transcription from said telephone call directly on the fly.

According to another feature, said speech to text engine is designed tomake a text transcription from a telephone call previously recorded inspeech form and delivered back.

According to another feature, said providing mean gets the texttranscription either directly from said speech to text engine or fromthe call recording server.

According to another feature, said provider mean is designed to betriggered from any one of the initial telephone terminals, by saidinitial telephone terminal establishing a consultation call toward saidthird telephone terminal.

According to another feature, said providing mean is designed to betriggered from said third telephone terminal, by said third telephoneterminal establishing an intrusion call into said initial telephonecall.

Others features, details and advantages will become more apparent fromthe detailed illustrating description given hereafter with respect tothe drawings on which:

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate four steps of a consultation scenario according toprior art,

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate four steps of an intrusion scenario according toprior art,

FIGS. 9-12 illustrate four steps of a consultation scenario according toan embodiment,

FIGS. 13-16 illustrate four steps of an intrusion scenario according toan embodiment,

FIGS. 17-19 show three organic embodiments.

In the following, a telephone terminal 2-4 is always uniquely associatedto a user. For connections and computing treatments, the telephoneterminal is mainly concerned. For interaction and speech, the user ismainly concerned. However, both terms “user” and “telephone terminal”are interchangeably used in the following application.

In order for a third telephone terminal 4, and its associated user 4, tojoin an already established telephone call 1, at least two scenarios arepossible. In a first scenario called consultation scenario, the thirdtelephone terminal 4 is called by a demand of one of the initialtelephone terminal 2, 3. In a second scenario called intrusion scenario,the third telephone terminal 4 joins the already established telephonecall 1 by a demand of said third telephone terminal 4/user 4. Except forthe aforementioned difference, many features are shared between said twoscenarios.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a consultation scenario, according to prior art.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first step. There, an initial telephone call 1 isalready established between at least two initial telephone terminals 2,3. Two telephone terminals 2, 3 is a minimum to have a telephone call 1.Two is used here to keep it simple for illustrative purposes. However, aconference call is possible where the telephone call 1 links more thantwo such telephone terminals 2, 3.

Let us considers now, that users 2, 3, for any reason, want to carry onsaid initial telephone call 1 by having a third user 4 joining them insaid telephone call 1. To do so, one of the initial telephoneterminal/user 2, 3, as illustrated in FIG. 2, initiates a consultationcall 10 toward the third telephone terminal 4 of the third user 4. Sucha consultation call 10 is triggered using some commands of the telephonysystem available e.g. from the telephone terminal 2 of the user 2.During said consultation call 10, the initial telephone call 1 may ornot be put on hold.

Before said third user 4 can be of any help to the initial users 2, 3,he must be informed of the background of the telephone call 1, that is,the content of the conversation exchanged between the initial users 2, 3from the start of said initial telephone call 1 until the consultationtime must be recapitulated to him. This is usually done, according toprior art, by the initial user 2 who initiates said consultation call10, advantageously using said consultation call 10, to retell saidconversation to the third user 4.

Depending on the elapsed time between the beginning of said initialtelephone call 1 and now/the consultation time, this recapitulation maybe very time consuming. Moreover, other initial users 3, if they havebeen put on hold, are uselessly waiting. Most of all, since theretelling is done by a person, the conversation is necessarilysummarized, and the summarizing process is not necessarily faithful,since it is prone to personal interpretation and also to, notnecessarily willing, forgetting and/or omission, that may leads to lossof important information.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, when initial user 2 or/and third user 4considers the recapitulation is sufficient, the third user 4 being awareof the content of the initial conversation before the third user 4 wasconsulted, user 2 decides to resume the initial call 1 with the initialusers 2, 3 plus the third user 4 joining them in a telephone call 1extended to the joining third user 4. The conversation can finallyresume, with the contribution of added third user 4.

Alternately, as illustrated in FIG. 4, initial user 2 can transfer theinitial call 1 and quit, leaving the added third user 4 in conversationin a telephone call 1 linking said third user 4 with some or all of theremaining initial user 3.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate an intrusion scenario, according to prior art.

FIG. 5 illustrates a first step, in all points similar to the first stepof FIG. 1. An initial telephone call 1 is already established between atleast two initial telephone terminals 2, 3.

Let us considers now that, for any reason, a third user 4 is interestedin joining said initial telephone call 1. Said third user 4 may beentitled to join said initial telephone call 1 as any user participatinginto a conference call. In such a case said third user 4 may both listenand talk in said telephone call 1 and his joining is known from theinitial users. Said third user 4 may also be entitled to join saidinitial telephone call 1 as an observer. In such a case said third user4 may listen and be allowed or not to talk. Depending on configurationhis joining may be known from the initial users 2, 3, in somewhat may becalled “listener” mode or may not be known from the initial users 2, 3,in somewhat may be called “spy” mode.

To do so, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the third telephone terminal/user 4initiates an intrusion call 11 into said initial telephone call 1. Saidintrusion call 11 is then triggered using some commands of the telephonysystem available e.g. from the third telephone terminal 4 of the thirduser 4.

The problem here is that the third user 4 has not followed theconversation between initial users 2, 3 since the beginning of thetelephone call 1. To benefit from his intrusion into the telephone call1 he should advantageously be informed of the background of thetelephone call 1, that is, of the content of the conversation betweenthe initial users 2, 3 exchanged from the start of said initialtelephone call 1 until the intrusion time.

Said third user 4 has few to no means to get such a background. If hispresence is known to the initial users 2, 3, the third user 4 can asksfor their help. Then one of the initial users 2, 3 can recapitulate thepast conversation to him. Such an approach suffers here from drawbackssimilar to the ones in the consultation scenario: time consumption,useless wait or inactivity of initial users 2, 3 not involved inbackground recapitulation, not necessarily faithful summarize.

If his presence is known to at least one of the initial user 2, anotherpossibility is to engage with said initial user 2 into another exchange12, preferably not a speech one, e.g. to engage into an immediatemessaging call 12. This allows said initial user 2 to provide someelements of said background by writing. However such a way of doing maybe very disturbing to said initial user 2, already involved in theinitial telephone call 1.

In the case where the third user's presence is not known, the third user4 has no way to get said background. The third user 4 can only listen tothe conversation on the telephone call 1, starting from his intrusionand try to imagine what is going on and what is discussed.

As illustrated at FIG. 7, whose configuration is very similar to the oneof FIG. 3, at any moment, the third user may decides to fully join theinitial call 1 with the initial users 2, 3 in a telephone call 1extended to the intruding third user 4.

Alternately, as illustrated in FIG. 8, whose configuration is verysimilar to the one of FIG. 4, initial user 2 can transfer the initialcall 1 and quit, leaving the added third user 4 in conversation in atelephone call 1 linking said third user 4 with some or all of theremaining initial user 3.

Both the consultation and the intrusion scenarios suffer from quite thesame drawbacks. The main idea, to avoid said drawbacks, is to provide,to the attention of said third user 4, a text transcription 9 of thecontent of the conversation exchanged between the initial users 2, 3,from the start of the initial telephone call 1, at least until theconsultation/intrusion time. Such a text transcription 9 is madeautomatically and by an automated device. It thus provides an immediate,faithful content of the conversation, without the need to bother or tooverload any of the initial user 2, 3, and in a way not necessaryvisible to said initial users 2, 3. Said text transcription alsoprovides, by reading, a genuine, quick, progressive and at his ownrhythm, way for the third user 4 to gain knowledge of the background.

The invention will now be comparatively described applied to aconsultation scenario, with references to FIGS. 9-12, and applied to anintrusion scenario, with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

FIG. 9 illustrates a first step. There, an initial telephone call 1 isestablished between at least two initial telephone terminals 2, 3.

Since the beginning of said initial telephone call 1, that is, from theestablishment of said initial telephone call 1, a call recording server5 listens to said telephone call 1 and registers it.

In the next step, illustrated by FIG. 10, one of the initial users, e.g.user 2, initiates a consultation call 10 toward a third telephoneterminal 4 of a third user 4. Such a consultation call 10 is triggeredusing some commands of the telephony system available e.g. from thetelephone terminal 2 of the user 2.

Such consultation call 10 also automatically triggers the providing, tothe attention of said consulted third user 4, of a text transcription 9of the initial telephone call 1. Said text transcription 9 canadvantageously be obtained thanks to the previous recording applied tothe initial telephone call 1. Said text transcription 9 is made from thetelephone call 1, in speech form, by a speech to text engine 6, 6′ ableto automatically transcript the speeches exchanged between all theinitial users 2, 3, along said initial telephone call 1.

Said text transcription 9 is provided to said third telephone terminal 4and advantageously displayed in text form so as to be read by said thirduser 4. By doing so, the third user 4 can easily gain knowledge ofexactly what has been discussed before his consultation, between initialusers 2, 3. The providing of said text transcription 9 is done by aproviding means 7. Said providing means 7 is triggered by the initiationof the consultation call 10. Thus, when the third user 4 picks up histelephone terminal 4 to answer to the consultation call 10, the texttranscription 9 can simultaneously be displayed to his attention.

The reading of said text transcription 9 by said third user 4 canadvantageously be done more quickly than any prior art approach. Most ofall, said text transcription 9 is an exact, objective and faithfulrecord of the telephone call 1. The third user 4 can thus advantageouslybe aware of a more exact background, much faster.

Additionally, this way of doing advantageously only involves the thirduser 4. Initial users 2, 3 are not necessary put on hold, obliged towait or to retell in any way the telephone call 1. By doing so, thetelephone call 1 can resume much faster, even automatically, with theinitial users 2, 3 plus the third user joining them in aconference/telephone call 1 extended to the joining third user 4, asillustrated in FIG. 11.

Alternately or later, as illustrated in FIG. 12, very similar to FIGS. 4and 8, initial user 2 can transfer the initial call 1 and quit, leavingthe added third user 4 in conversation in a telephone call 1 linkingsaid third user 4 with some or all of the remaining initial user 3.

Similarly, when applied to an intrusion scenario, figure illustrates afirst step, in all points similar to the first step of FIGS. 1, 5 and 9.An initial telephone call 1 is already established between at least twoinitial telephone terminals 2, 3.

Here also, since the beginning of said initial telephone call 1, thatis, from the establishment of said initial telephone call 1, a callrecording server 5 listens to said telephone call 1 and registers it.

Then a third user 4 wants to join said initial telephone call 1, eitherin bidirectional mode, listen and talk, or in unidirectional mode,listen only, be it in “listener” mode or in “spy” mode.

To do so, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the third user 4 initiates anintrusion call 11 into said initial telephone call 1.

Such initiation of an intrusion call 11 also automatically triggers theproviding, to the attention of said intruding third user 4, of a texttranscription 9 of the initial telephone call 1. Said text transcription9 can advantageously be obtained thanks to the previous recordingapplied to the initial telephone call 1. Said text transcription 9 ismade from the telephone call 1, in speech form, by a speech to textengine 6, 6′ able to automatically transcript the speeches exchangedbetween all the initial users 2, 3, along said initial telephone call 1.

Said text transcription 9 is provided to said third telephone terminal 4and advantageously displayed in text form so as to be read by said thirduser 4. By doing so, the third user 4 can easily gain knowledge ofexactly what has been discussed before between initial users 2, 3. Theproviding of said text transcription 9 is done by a providing means 7.Said providing means 7 is triggered by the initiation of the intrusioncall 11. Thus, when the third user 4 initiates said intrusion call 11from his third telephone terminal 4, the text transcription 9 cansimultaneously be displayed to his attention, in return.

The reading of said text transcription 9 by said third user 4 can bedone more quickly than any prior art approaches. Most of all, said texttranscription 9 is an exact, objective and faithful record of thetelephone call 1. The third user 4 can thus advantageously be aware of amore exact background, much faster.

Additionally, this way of doing advantageously only involves the thirduser 4. Initial users 2, 3 are not necessarily put on hold, obliged towait or to retell in any way the telephone call 1. They are even notobliged to be aware of the intrusion. This appears to be veryadvantageous when it comes to some “spy” modes.

As for the consultation scenario case, by doing so, the telephone call 1can resume much faster, even automatically, with the initial users 2, 3plus the third user joining them in a conference/telephone call 1extended to the joining third user 4, as illustrated in FIG. 15.

Alternately or later, as illustrated in FIG. 16, very similar to FIGS.4, 8 and 12, initial user 2 can quit the telephone call 1, leaving theadded third user 4 in conversation in a telephone call 1 linking saidthird user 4 with some or all of the remaining initial users 3.

Since the principles are now established, the following will describesome possible embodiments enabling them.

FIGS. 17-19 show three variant embodiments.

According to some embodiments, the telephony system comprises means toestablish an initial telephone call 1 between at least two initialtelephone terminals 2, 3 so as to link their respective users 2, 3. Thismeans are usual in a telephony system and are known to the one skilledin the art. As such, they are not described in detail here.

More specific of some embodiments of the invention, are additionalmodules. In order to get a record of the telephone call 1, at least fromits beginning till the time of the consultation or intrusion, a callrecording server 5 is in charge of recording the initial telephone call1 since its beginning.

In order to provide a text transcription 9 of the initial telephone call1, a speech to text engine 6 is used. Such a speech to text engine 6 isknown to be able to provide a text transcription 9, in readable textform, out of an audible conversation, here the telephone call 1, inaudio or speech form. Such a speech to text engine 6 is known to the oneskilled in the art and will not be described in detail here.

In addition, a providing mean 7 is in charge of providing said texttranscription 9 to the third telephone terminal 4, to be displayed tothe attention of the third user 4.

As can be derived from both scenarios, the providing of a texttranscription is a good mean to recapitulate a conversation from atelephone call 1 to a third user 4. Consequently a registering of thewhole telephone call 1 is necessary to provide such a text transcription9. Consequently, said call recording server 5 must be operative toautomatically start recording a telephone call 1 from the beginning ofsaid initial telephone call 1. This can e.g. be done by having an actionrelated to the initiation of a telephone call 1 triggering the start ofthe recording by said call recording server 5. Such an action can be anycommand of the telephony system related to the establishment of a call,such as the call command from the caller, or else the pick up from anyone of the called users.

It can be also noted here, that since one cannot know in advance if atelephone call 1 would be either consulted or intruded, a telephone call1 in a telephony system must be recorded by said call recording server 5in order to be able to offer the background recapitulation feature forsaid telephone call 1.

To realise the previously described function of recording a telephonecall 1 and then provide a text transcription 9 of said telephone call 1,at least two, non-exclusive, options are offered. These options areillustrated at least with reference to FIGS. 10 and 14.

According to a first option, the call recording server 5 directly storesa record of a telephone call 1 in speech form 8. This is easier to do,since it does not need any operation, the speech form 8 rathercorresponding to the initial form of the telephone call 1 as exchangedbetween the initial users 2, 3. However, in this case the production ofthe text transcription 9 must be done at providing time, when the thirduser 4 is consulted or intrudes. This may be done by a speech to textengine 6′ triggered at providing time. Such an approach is advantageousin that only a telephone call 1 that needs to be transcripted, becauseit is the target of a consultation 10 or of an intrusion 11, would beeffectively transcripted. This lowers the computing capacity need.However, such an approach necessitates a fast speech to text engine 6′in order to build the text transcription 9 quickly enough to not havethe third user 4 waiting for it.

According to a second option, the call recording server 5 may stores arecord of a telephone call 1 in text transcription form 9. This is morecomplicated. It needs to process the telephone call 1 through the speechto text engine 6 before storing the telephone call 1 in the so obtainedtext transcription form 9. In this case the production of the texttranscription 9 at providing time is very quick. Such an approach isadvantageous in that it can cope with as slow speech to text engine 6.Another advantage of said second approach is that it lowers the storagecapacity needed. Despites all the telephone call 1 are recorded, atelephone call 1 stored as a text transcription 9, e.g. coded in ASCII,is lighter in storage capacity than a telephone call 1 stored in speechform 8. However said second approach suffers from an increased computingcapacity need due to the transcription process applied by the speech totext engine 6 to all telephone calls 1.

Any telephone call 1 that would offer the background recapitulationfeature must be recorded by said call recording server 5 at least in oneform among the speech form 8 and the text transcription form 9. It isalso possible to have a telephone call 1 so recorded in both forms 8, 9.

The call recording server 5, in addition to storing telephone calls, isalso acting as a server, and can deliver back a recorded telephone call1 on demand. The recording of a telephone call 1 is active from itsbeginning to either its end, when all users have hanged up, or until athird user is either consulted or intrudes into said telephone call 1.

If the end of a telephone call 1 is reached, the record made by saidcall recording server 5 may be deleted to reduce the memory storageused.

If before the end, a consultation 10 or an intrusion 11 occurs, the callrecording server 5 delivers back the record of said telephone call 1 ondemand. Said demand typically comes from the providing means 7, when thetelephone call 1 is recorded in text transcription form 9, to providesaid text transcription 9 to the third user 4. Said demand typicallycomes from the speech to text engine 6, when the telephone call 1 isrecorded in speech form 8, to build a text transcription form 9. Saidtext transcription 9 is then delivered to the providing mean 7, which inturn provides said text transcription 9 to the third user 4.

Accordingly, depending on the option, the speech to text engine 6 iseither designed to make a text transcription 9 from said telephone call1 directly on the fly, when the telephone call 1 occurs. In this casethe recording of the telephone call 1 is done after the transcription,in text transcription form 9. In such a case the speech to text engine 6is in position 6 in FIG. 10 or 14.

Or instead, the speech to text engine 6 may be designed to make a texttranscription 9 from a telephone call 1 previously recorded in speechform 8 and delivered back, e.g. by the call recording server 5. In thiscase the telephone call 1 is recorded, before the transcription, inspeech form 8. In such a case the speech to text engine 6 is instead inposition 6′ in FIG. 10 or 14.

Accordingly, depending on the option, the providing mean 7 gets the texttranscription 9 either directly from said speech to text engine 6, whenthe telephone call 1 is recorded before the transcription in speech form8, or from the call recording server 5, when the telephone call 1 isrecorded after the transcription in text transcription form 9.

In all cases, the providing means 7 is triggered by a consultation 10 orby an intrusion 11.

In case of a consultation 10, the providing mean 7 is triggered from anyone of the initial telephone terminals 2, 3, especially by the one,among said initial telephone terminals 2, 3, which establishes aconsultation call 10 toward said third telephone terminal 4. At thisinstant, the text transcription 9 is transmitted to the third telephoneterminal 4 to the attention of the third user 4.

In case of an intrusion 11, the providing mean 7 is triggered from saidthird telephone terminal 4, by said third telephone terminal 4establishing an intrusion call 11 into said initial telephone call 1.

Different configurations in organic implementation will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 17-19.

In all three illustrative implementations, the system can be parted intoa user segment 20 and a server segment 30. Said user segment 20typically comprises a telephone set 21. Such a telephone set 21 is atypical telephone set as is already known. It can be a desk telephonedevice or a mobile cellular device, such as a smartphone. Said usersegment 20 further comprises a media application 22 comprising allcomponents necessary to the implementation that cannot be necessaryfound in telephone set 21. E.g. depending on the displaying capacitiesof the telephone set 21, it may or not comprises a display evolvedenough to display a text transcription 9 in order for it to be read by auser 4. A cellular mobile smartphone will typically comprise such anevolved display, while a desk telephone device would typically notcomprise such an evolved display. In the case of a telephone set 21 notcomprising such an evolved display, the media application 22 would thenprovide such an evolved display. In a desk environment, the mediaapplication 22 may e.g. use a desk personal computer to do so.

The server segment 30 comprises a telephony server 31 and a conferencemanager 32 in charge of respectively managing the general telephonyfunctions and the conference functions, as is known in the art. Thesetwo components are present in all three configurations and are verysimilar to the ones found in prior art.

In all three configurations of FIGS. 17-19, a call recording server 5interfaces with said conference manager 32 in order to record thetelephone call 1.

In the configuration of FIG. 17, said call recording server 5 uses astorage means 33 to record telephone call 1 directly in speech form 8.At providing time, a speech to text engine 6 is triggered. The record inspeech form 8 of the telephone call 1 is retrieved from said storagemeans 33 to be processed so as to build a text transcription 9. Here theproviding means 7 can be considered to be joined with said speech totext engine 6. All these modules are located on the server segment 30.The produced text transcription 9 is transmitted to the telephoneterminal 20.

In the configuration of FIG. 18, said call recording server 5 also usesa storage means 33 to record telephone call 1 directly in speech form 8.At providing time, the record in speech form 8 of the telephone call 1is retrieved from said storage means 33 to be transmitted to thetelephone terminal 20. Here, a local speech to text engine 6 istriggered to build a text transcription 9. Here the providing means 7can be considered to be joined with said speech to text engine 6.

In the configuration of FIG. 19, said call recording server 5 also usesa storage means 34 to record telephone call 1, but in text transcriptionform 9. A speech to text engine 6 is thus used before/during recordingtime to build a text transcription 9 on the fly. Said text transcription9 so obtained is then recorded in said storage means 34. By doing so, atproviding time, the text transcription 9 is immediately available. Theproviding means 7 just has to retrieve it from said storage means 34 andto transmit it to the telephone terminal 20. Here, the three modules 5,6, 7 can be considered to be joined together and are all located in theserver segment 30.

These illustrative configurations are not limited. They can be combinedto provide other configurations.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A telephony system comprising: a processor; and amemory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed bythe processor, cause the processor to: establish a telephony sessionbetween a first communication appliance and a second communicationappliance; record a conversation of the telephony session in response toestablishing the telephony session; transfer the telephony session to athird communication appliance that subsequently joins the telephonysession; provide a text transcript of the conversation to the thirdcommunication appliance in response to the transferring of the telephonysession to the third communication appliance for causing display of thetext transcript on a display device associated with the thirdcommunication appliance, wherein the text transcript comprises at leasta portion of the conversation prior to the transferring of the telephonysession to the third communication appliance.
 12. The telephony systemof claim 11, wherein the transferring of the telephony session to thethird communication appliance is in response to receiving a consultationrequest from the first communication appliance or the secondcommunication appliance.
 13. The telephony system of claim 11, whereinthe transferring of the telephony session to the third communicationappliance is in response to receiving an intrusion request from thethird communication appliance.
 14. The telephony system of claim 11,wherein the record of the conversation is stored in audio form.
 15. Thetelephony system of claim 14, wherein the text transcript is createdfrom the stored record at a time of the providing of the text transcriptof the conversation to the third communication appliance.
 16. Thetelephony system of claim 11, wherein the record of the conversation isstored in the text transcript form.
 17. The telephony system of claim16, wherein the text transcript is created directly on the fly from theconversation of the telephony session.
 18. The telephony system of claim11, wherein the record of the conversation starts from a beginning ofthe conversation to a time of the extending of the telephony session tothe third communication appliance.
 19. A method of providingrecapitulation of a telephony session, the method comprising:establishing the telephony session between a first communicationappliance and a second communication appliance; recording a conversationof the telephony session in response to establishing the telephonysession; transferring the telephony session to a third communicationappliance that subsequently joins the telephony session; providing atext transcript of the conversation to the third communication appliancein response to the transferring of the telephony session to the thirdcommunication appliance for causing display of the text transcript on adisplay device associated with the third communication appliance,wherein the text transcript comprises at least a portion of theconversation prior to the transferring of the telephony session to thethird communication appliance.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thetransferring of the telephony session to the third communicationappliance is in response to receiving a consultation request from thefirst communication appliance or the second communication appliance. 21.The method of claim 19, wherein the transferring of the telephonysession to the third communication appliance is in response to receivingan intrusion request from the third communication appliance.
 22. Themethod of claim 19, further comprising storing the record of theconversation in audio form.
 23. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising creating the text transcript from the stored record at a timeof the providing of the text transcript of the conversation to the thirdcommunication appliance.
 24. The method of claim 19, further comprisingstoring the record of the conversation in the text transcript form. 25.The method of claim 24, further comprising creating the text transcriptdirectly on the fly from the conversation of the telephony session. 26.The method of claim 19, wherein the recording of the conversation startsfrom a beginning of the conversation to a time of the extending of thetelephony session to the third communication appliance.
 27. Thetelephony system of claim 11, wherein the providing of the texttranscript of the conversation to the third communication appliance istriggered from any one of the first and second communication appliances.28. The telephony system of claim 11, wherein the third communicationappliance comprises the display device associated with the thirdcommunication appliance.
 29. The telephony system of claim 11, whereinthe display device associated with the third communication appliance isexternal to the third communication appliance.